A unique bit of Apple history just went up for auction: Apple Computer check “No. 2” signed by company co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Bidding for the $116.97 check is already up to more than $55,000.
A number of other rare Apple items are also up for sale, some signed by Jobs.
April 11, 1976: Apple releases its first computer, the Apple-1.
Designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, the computers are sold wholesale by “Steven” Jobs. To finance their manufacturing, Wozniak sells his HP-65 calculator for $500, while Jobs sells his VW van. Years later, in 2014, a working Apple-1 will sell at auction for $905,000.
March 3, 1975: The Homebrew Computer Club, a hobbyist group that will help spark the personal computing revolution, holds its first meeting in Menlo Park, California.
It becomes a welcome forum for computer geeks at a time when few others care about the nascent technology. Regular attendee Steve Wozniak and his friend Steve Jobs will eventually show off the first Apple-1 unit at the club.
An Apple museum could be made of just the items currently up for bid at a single auction. There’s a fully functional Apple-1, an Apple Lisa 1, some technical notes handwritten by Steve Jobs, an original iPhone still sealed in the plastic and much, more.
Many of these items are expected to bring in big bucks.
December 8, 1975: San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur Paul Terrell opens The Byte Shop, one of the world’s first computer stores — and the first to sell an Apple computer.
Years before Apple would open its own retail outlets, the Byte Shop stocks the first 50 Apple-1 computers built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
November 23, 2010: An early Apple-1 computer, complete with its original packaging and a letter signed by Steve Jobs, sells for $210,000.
At the time, it ranks as the most expensive personal computer ever sold at auction. However, it’s a rare find. The working Apple-1 is thought to be one of only around 50 thought to still exist.
In 1976, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs demonstrated a prototype Apple-1 computer to the owner of The Byte Shop. That lead to a deal that launched Apple on its path to success.
That prototype is now up for auction. It’s expected to sell for $500,000.
A restored Apple-1 in good working order might see a winning bid of $485,000 in an upcoming auction. That’s not just because the antique computer is nearly all original and actually works. It’s also because Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed it.
The first computer built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak is the Apple-1, right? Not quite. Turns out before that was the “Apple Computer A.”
Unfortunately, the actual Apple prototype with that name was not found. But pictures of it from 1976 were. And they show details of this handmade Apple prototype.
From time to time you hear about Apple’s first computer, the Apple 1, selling to collectors at auction for big bucks. But did you know some of those surviving antiques carry an enduring mystery? For decades, no one could figure out who wrote the serial numbers on their circuit boards. Until now.
